Fast Food Advertising - Research Paper Example

Lecturer’s Fast Food Advertising Fast food advertising is to blame for childhood obesity. Advertisements that have been done before in the past have changed the livelihoods of people in different nations. Most of the adverts have been found to cause adverse effects to the livelihoods of humans this is mainly because people tend to adapt lifestyles that they are not used to and which they are unaware of their detriments. Considering that, junk foods being advertised tend to cause some curiosity among people due to the appeal with which they are advertised with most people, and especially children, tend to try using the same for their diets. Most of the foods that are being advertised have been found to be fast foods that are not considered helpful to the human body, and cause obesity to both children and adults who commonly use them in their diets as supplements. In the current society, it has also been noted that eating habits of children have changed immensely this is concerning the foods they observe being advertised in the media. The associated disadvantage is that most of the foods that are commonly consumed by the children have turned to be the fast foods that are being sold in the restaurants and heavily advertised in the media they watch most of the time. Advertisement of fast foods in the media is to blame for the increase in childhood obesity in the current society because most of the children tend to have a desire of trying every fast food that they find being advertised without noticing that the effects of the same foods can be negative to their health and their future. Hence, there exists a relationship in children eating habits, food children observe being advertised and the choices of food that they also have and this has been observed in our current society. These bad eating habits of fast foods, which are influenced through foods being advertised, have led to increment of obesity among the children (Birkett 25). In addition, recent studies clearly indicate that the number of hours children spend watching tends to affect their eating habits, as well as the type of foods they consume. These studies revealed that the children who spent most of their time watching and paying attention to adverts on foods, tend to eat more fast foods (Ianneli 52). Considering children like and curious of being introduced to new things in their surrounding the moment a new advertisement is set for them, they make their friends understand that they have seen the advert, and are ready to try the new type of fast food in the market. In addition, because parents always work hard to ensure their children have everything at their comfort they result to buying them the foods that they propose to them, which are usually fast foods. This is detrimental considering studies indicates that fast food children consume contributes to children’s obese lifestyle, which although this does not fully lead to obesity in children, it is the main contributing factor to children having obesity in the current society. Therefore, parents should take caution not to fall into the trap of buying their children fast foods, and always ensure that their children take healthy foods for their diet (Schelmetic 75). Moreover, a study of children aged between the years 6 and 13 performed on the children who viewed commercials for fast foods revealed that most of these children resulted to taking foods that were not considerably good for their health. Despite the fact that fast foods can be addictive to children, they should engage in physical activities to keep fit. However, most of the children who consume fast foods have been found to spend most of their time in their houses watching and not engaging in any hard tasks, and this has been found to affect their behavior and their eating habits (Termini, Roberto and Hostetter 89). In addition, consumption of calorie-rich foods has risen with the increase of children watching commercial adverts on food products. This has been found to affect their health and the way they operate relative to their life style, as most of these children are not able to perform tasks that can be considered hard or heavy for them and their bodies. Research clearly indicates that a relationship does exist between the eating habits of children and the advertisements they are used to watching. This is mainly because the adverts seem to be attractive and appealing to the children and so they tend to spend most of their time discussing on the different types of foods and the new ones that are being introduced in the market. This trend has significantly influenced American children eating habits and in most cases has been found to bring about the increase in cases of obesity in children (Ianneli 90). Therefore, advertisement of fast foods should be regulated in the media producing companies through either banning of junk food advertising or the inclusion of the clause “junk food is harmful to your health”. This is mainly because it is the main contributing factor to children developing cases of obesity in the current society. Several cases have been reported of young children having cases of obesity, considering according to studies children who ate junk food twice or more times a week gained over ten pounds in weight more than those who consumed less times. The consumption of these fast foods among children is influenced by what they have seen being advertised in media considering according to surveys fast food industries spend around five million dollars advertising junk food to children. Therefore, parents and teachers in schools should also ensure that the children have been taught on good eating habits and the effects of junk foods, as well as the essence of taking proper diet in their schools and at home as well. This will help to ensure that the rate of consumption of fast foods by the children is reduced, which will at least serve to reduce the number of overweight children which has tripled in the last decade and their health standards will be maintained. In conclusion, ensuring that children are aware of the effects of fast foods in their bodies helps to eliminate the effect of fast food, and wrong eating habits among children in the current society. This also ensures that the future of the children is catered for, and their survival in the society is increased. Parents with children in their environments should help educate them on the effects of fast foods in their bodies so that they can regulate the amount of fast foods they consume. The parents should also help the children in doing exercises, which are considerably fit for ensuring that the amount of fats in their bodies is reduced to a greater extent. This will help to ensure that the children remain healthy and have no fatty tissues around the hearts, which can also be as a cause of obesity in future. Furthermore, the government should have laid down procedures on the advertisement of fast foods to the children. This will then help to ensure that the production of fast foods in the current society is reduced. Moreover, this will then help to ensure that the number of obese children in the current society is significantly reduced, and fast foods should not be encouraged to children at a tender age in large amounts. Parents should notice that most of the fast foods that are introduced to children at younger ages affect the nature of their living styles and their health. Works Cited Birkett, Cory. “How TV Commercials Affect Kids’ Junk Food Habits.” Health Newspapers 08 September, 2011. Web. Nov. 26, 2012. Ianneli, Vincent. “Childhood Obesity-Some Reasons to Blame Media Use.” Health Pediatrics. 27 June, 2011. Web. Nov. 26, 2012. < http://pediatrics.about.com/b/2011/06/27/childhood-obesity-some-reasons-to-blame-media-use.htm> Schelmetic, Tracy. “Genetically Engineered Foods.” Thomas Net News 26 November, 2012. Print. Termini, Roseann B, Roberto, Thomas A. & Hostetter, Shelby G. Food Advertising and Childhood Obesity: A Call to Action for Proactive Solutions. Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology. 2011;12(2):619-651. Read More